


A Trust Not Betrayed

by callistawolf



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Arguing, Drama, F/M, Jealousy, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-09
Updated: 2013-12-09
Packaged: 2018-01-04 04:14:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1076413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callistawolf/pseuds/callistawolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver is upset when he learned Felicity brought Barry in on their secret. Is he upset that she told the secret or is he upset at who she told the secret to?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Trust Not Betrayed

**Author's Note:**

> Before 2x09 airs, a little look at what I'd like to see happen (but know it won't!). I got the idea off this post.

Barry’s cure worked. Thank _God_ , it worked.  After a few moments of disorientation, some confused mumbling from Oliver as they worked to calm him and check his vitals, he finally seemed to come back to himself.  Oliver was always a quick healer and as soon as he was conscious and coherent, he wanted to sit up.  That’s when he saw Barry, standing off to the side, looking a little sheepish.  The younger man lifted his hand in a pseudo wave, smiling in a non-threatening manner. 

Felicity exchanged a significant look with Digg as Oliver’s eyebrows drew together.  “What the hell is _he_ doing here?” 

“Oliver, we didn’t know what you’d been injected with or how to counteract it,” Felicity tried to explain.  “Digg wanted to call 911, but I didn’t want your cover to be blown.”

“She was right, too.  It’s just... you looked bad, dude.  Real bad.  Scared me, if we’re being honest,” Digg admitted. 

“I’m still waiting to hear why you’ve brought that _kid_ in here.  Why did you blow our cover to him?  Is it because you have some schoolgirl crush on him?”  Oliver was already off the table and stalking towards her, his entire demeanour vibrating with irritation. 

Felicity felt her hackles go up.  “I was trying to save you, you jerk!  I didn’t know what to do to counteract what you’d been injected with but I knew Barry would.”

“We were real careful,” Digg assured him, but he didn’t even look towards his friend.  Oliver didn’t take his eyes off Felicity.  “We tranq’d him and everything so he just woke up here in the lair.”

“Yeah, and let me tell you.  That goes down as one of the biggest shocks of my life.  Looking back, the clues are all there and it seems obvious butâ€¦ at the time?  Waking up and seeing you laying there in the Arrow outfitâ€¦ Man.  Amazing.”  Barry grinned at Oliver genially but the older man just shifted his gaze from Felicity and fixed him with a withering look before looking back at her.

Oliver’s jaw was clenched.  “Felicity, can I speak to you alone?” 

His voice was calm and controlled but she heard the note of anger in his voice as clearly as if he’d yelled it.  She nodded, hoping that maybe he’d get whatever it was out of his system in speaking to her and then maybe they could get down to work, taking down this new threat against the city. 

Felicity walked past the computers and past the sparring mats and Oliver stalked after her, fists clenched at his sides.  She’d no sooner turned to face him than he was up in her face, using his intimidating voice on her. 

“What the hell were you thinking, bringing that kid here? Now he knows I am the vigilante!  He knows about you and Digg and he’ll turn us in to the police!” 

Impatience crackled under her skin.  This man, for as much as she loved (no, not loved, _liked_ ) him, could be infuriating as hell. “You were _dying_ , Oliver! We didn’t really have a choice!”

“Felicity, this is my _life_.  This is all our lives! I can’t believe you’d jeopardise it all because you have a crush on some boy!”

“Okay, first, you’re being completely ridiculous.  If we’d taken you to the hospital, your cover would have been blown in _much_ grander fashion.  And I was not going to stand back and watch you die.”

Oliver opened his mouth to interject but she held up a finger in his face, silencing him.  “And what the hell do you mean with all this crush nonsense?  Is it him being here that you’re ticked off about or the thought that I might have a crush on him?”

He stared at her for a moment, his blue eyes wide on hers.  Felicity could see he was grappling with his response, perhaps not even sure what the answer is.  Inspired, she went on. 

“I’ll tell you what,” she said, lowering her voice when she noticed that Digg and Barry were not so subtly watching them from across the room.  “I think its the latter.  I think you’re jealous.”

Oliver’s head reared back.  “Are you kidding me?”

Felicity crossed her arms over her chest. He was tense from head to toe, but his eyes were avoiding hers.  She’d noticed, in the last several weeks especially, that he often looked over her shoulder to avoid meeting her eyes whenever she confronted him about something emotional like this.  She thought back to when she’d pointed out his hypocrisy to Barry just yesterday.  He’d avoided her eyes then.   And he was doing it again.  

Realisation washed over her as she recalled the way Oliver had been acting ever since Barry had shown up in Starling City.  He was always rather brooding and distant, but he generally made more of an effort with his public persona to be charming and easy going.  He hadn’t been either of those things to poor Barry, who was really just trying to help and hoping to find some answers for himself while he was at it. 

But right from the first moment, he’d picked on Barry’s age, he’d fixed him with a lot of hard looks and treated him very dismissively.  When Barry had come to QC, Oliver had been practically unpleasant about having him in the office.  Then she’d found out he was having the poor guy investigated.  When Oliver had come to them with his findings, he’d been practically gleeful about having caught Barry in a lie.  And he hadn’t pulled the other man aside to discuss it with him in private, no, he’d wanted Felicity to hear every word. 

There was no reason for Oliver to have treated him that way.  Anyone could tell by looking at Barry that he was harmless.  He was smart, kind and sweet.  The only other thing that stood out was his clear interest in her.  And, for her part, she’d been interested in him right back.  Ever since he’d rescued her from the Count, Oliver had been distant with her, avoiding moments where they would be alone and acting very much like he had around when they’d first met.  Considering how close they’d grown recently, his withdrawal had been so frustrating. 

Then, along comes Barry and he smiles at her, he acts interestedâ€¦ It felt good to have that sort of attention on her for once.  Felicity’s social life had never been particularly happening, but ever since joining Team Arrow, dating had become nothing more than an urban legend.  If a cute guy wanted to flirt with her, well, she was going to flirt right back.  Especially when the other man in her life clearly wasn’t going to be doing any flirting of his own. 

And now he was _jealous_?  Oh, that just took the cake.  

“I’m _not_ kidding you and I think this is ridiculous, Oliver,” she hissed at him.  “We did what we had to in order to save your life.  The very least you could do is thank us for giving a shit about you!”

He clenched his jaw, causing a muscle to jump.  “I trusted you, Felicity.  I trusted you to keep this life a secret.”

Oh, she could just smack him.  “I _am_ keeping it a secret.  I have no one in my life to even tell, Oliver.”

“Looks like you have Barry now,” he replied, grumbling.  He looked very much like a grumpy child who’d just had his favorite toy taken from him.

“And what’s so wrong with that?  Don’t I deserve to have someone to make me happy?  You’ve had many women in your life in the time I’ve known you and I’ve had _no one_.  Now there’s someone who seems a little interested in me and I _will not_ have you messing this up for me,” she growled, poking a finger in his chest.  It was hard and unmoving and warm and Felicity had to force her attention back onto the subject at hand. 

“I never said I didn’t want you to have someone.”  Still, his face looked like he’d just taken a bite out of a lemon. 

“Good, because I don’t think I asked for your permission,” she told him, raising an eyebrow.  Oliver sighed.  “And I’m still not sure how Barry and I’s friendship has anything to do with bringing him here to save your bacon, mister.”

“I just wonder if he was the right choice.”

“Clearly he was, as you’re standing here right now giving me grief about it!  I really can’t believe you’re being such a jerk about this. I was trying to save you.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to bring up what he’d just done not that long ago to save _her_.  He’d killed the Count without hesitation when it’d looked like the psychopath was about to inject her with a lethal dose of Vertigo.  He’d gone back on a promise to himself and afterward had told her it hadn’t even been a choice to him.  It was the same here for her.  She wanted to tell him this, but was afraid of bringing up a sore subject into an already tense discussion. 

Instead, she took a deep breath and reached up, touching her fingers to his jaw lightly before retracting her hand. “Oliver, don’t make me have to justify what I’ll do to save your life.”

Oliver looked begrudgingly but suitably chastised.  “Felicity...”

“Unless the next words out of your mouth are an apology, I don’t want to hear it,” she warned him. 

“I’m sorry,” he said.  She looked up to meet his eyes and saw the sincerity written there.  “You’re right, I can’t call into question what you’d do for me because I know what I would do for you.”

 _What you did do for me_ , she quietly added to herself. She nodded and smiled a little.  “Thank you.”  

He reached out and took her hands in his, squeezing lightly.  “But I don’t have to like him being here, do I?” he asked with a half smile.  

Felicity scowled at him lightly.  “He’s a nice guy!  And smart.  Maybe smarter than me.  Don’t you dare tell anyone I said that, I’ll deny it with my dying breath.  Give him a chance, you’ll like him, I promise!”

Oliver grumbled but he nodded.  

Feeling she’d accomplished something, she released his hands and began to turn back around towards the others. Almost as an afterthought, she half turned back to him.  “I think you and I need to talk.  Later, that is.  Can we talk later?”

He blinked at her but she knew him better and she could see through his innocent act.  He knew she wanted to talk about his jealousy, supposed or not.  Felicity didn’t doubt that it was a scary prospect to him.  Oliver, who stood up to hoods and thieves and murderers on a regular basis, was definitely most terrified by emotional interactions.  All the same, she wasn’t about to let him off the hook.  She arched an eyebrow to indicate that she was looking for some sort of acknowledgement from him. 

He heaved a sigh.  “Fine.  We’ll talk later.”

She nodded crisply and walked back to Digg and Barry, who were looking at the computer screens intently and trying to pretend they hadn’t been watching the tense exchange between the two of them.  Felicity smirked as she rubbed her hands together, and then she pushed both the other men aside so she could drop into the seat in front of her keyboard.  

“Okay, boys.  We’ve got a big bad to hunt down and stop.  Let’s get to work!”


End file.
